"The political change of the half-shekel collection mechanism as an inspiration for the organization's concept of social justice". This dvar Torah is based on study in RHR's beit midrash, which takes place every Wednesday at 9 am.
This Shabbat is "Shekalim" Shabbat. When the Temple existed, in the month of Adar, half-shekel was collected for the overall maintenance of the Temple during the new year beginning in Nisan. On the Shabbat before the month of Adar, the announcement of the collection was made, and in memory of this the Sages decreed the reading of the mitzvah of half-shekel every year on this Shabbat.
We read: "The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less, than the half shekel, when they give the offering of the LORD, to make atonement for your souls. And thou shalt take the atonement money from the children of Israel, and shalt appoint it for the service of the tent of meeting, that it may be a memorial for the children of Israel before the LORD, to make atonement for your souls" (Exodus 30:15-16) - the contribution is for atonement and remembrance, but the purpose of the half shekels is "for the srvice of the Tent of Meeting", that is, for the maintenance of the tabernacle.
In the special haftara of the parasha there appears an interesting event related to the collection of the half shekel: "And Jehoash said to the priests: All the money of the hallowed things that is brought into the house of the LORD, in current money, the money of the persons for whom each man is rated, all the money that cometh into any man's heart to bring into the house of the LORD, let the priests take it to them, every man from him that bestoweth it upon him; and they shall repair the breaches of the house, wheresoever any breach shall be found" (2 Kings 12:5-6).
King Jehoash demands that the half shekel funds be directed to strengthening the temple structure based on the existing collection mechanism: the priests collect every man from him that bestoweth it upon him into their private pockets and decide what the money will be used for and how much to direct to what benefit, Jehoash demands that the money be directed to strengthening the temple.
"But it was so, that in the three and twentieth year of king Jehoash the priests had not repaired the breaches of the house. Then king Jehoash called for Jehoiada the priest, and for the other priests, and said unto them: 'Why repair ye not the breaches of the house? now therefore take no longer money from them that bestow it upon you, but deliver it for the breaches of the house. And the priests consented that they should take no longer money from the people, neither repair the breaches of the house" (ibid., 7-9)
The days pass, and the king discovers that the structure of the temple has not yet been strengthened, he realizes that the required money does not reach its destination, and in response - cancels the existing collection mechanism!
"And Jehoiada the priest took a chest, and bored a hole in the lid of it, and set it beside the altar, on the right side as one cometh into the house of the LORD; and the priests that kept the threshold put therein all the money that was brought into the house of the LORD. And it was so, when they saw that there was much money in the chest, that the king's scribe and the high priest came up, and they put up in bags and counted the money that was found in the house of the LORD" (ibid., 10-11)
The King creates a new mechanism, the main cash register: the collection becomes general and direct - every visitor gives directly to the "safe". The result is that not only is enough money collected, but there is a surplus in the public purse, which is all directed to the strengthening of the temple: "And they paid it out to the carpenters and the builders […] and to the masons and the hewers of stone, and for buying timber and hewn stone to repair the breaches of the house of the LORD, and for all that was laid out for the house to repair it" (ibid., 12-13)
The haftara allows us to follow and compare the mitzvot of the half shekel from the days of Moses to King Jehoash. We learn that a lack of proper management meant that there was no attention paid to the need for the inspection of maintenance of the building itself and the loopholes created in it.
The traditional collection process was "every man from him that bestoweth it upon him". The priests were part of the people, and by virtue of their communal role as the local Halacha teachers, they collected the money spontaneously. However, personal conduct caused the money to be transferred to different destinations, each priest made a personal decision as to what to do with the money, and each priest was apparently sure that the purpose for which he transferred the money was the right one - but the bottom line is that the temple remained breached.
The king, who notices that he has been in office for twenty-three years, and the temple has not yet been strengthened, does a radical political act - he cancels the existing mechanism, bypasses it and creates a main collection mechanism above the heads of the priests. The "king" is not a religious but a professional authority. The king is subject to and bound by the mitzvot of the Torah, but a large part of his role is managing the petty affairs of the kingdom. In the name of proper administration, he weakens the status of the priests, and takes state and broad responsibility for the needs of the temple.
The conclusion of the haftara teaches us that despite the gracefulness and even the religious and emotional enthusiasm present in donating the half shekel, one that is linked to atonement and remembrance before God - when there is a large state and multiple expenses, there is a need for a professional "superfactor" who sees all the needs and makes sure that they are all met. Donations of funds at the community level, given ad hoc for social needs, have all the grace and civic responsibility, but do not necessarily lead to a comprehensive professional solution. Those who are in the field see only what their eyes see, and challenges and problems that do not receive exposure in the media or in WhatsApp groups - do not receive a response. Each area must have a "king", who sees the overall picture, and makes sure that the blanket is not pulled to one side at the expense of another side - so that in the end the "temple" is not left breached.
The events of the last few months have exposed a large part of the government offices in their nakedness.
Civil society rallied and got under the stretcher, this is a holy craft that shows the beautiful face of Israeli society - but as with the priests, the holy people, this is not the right solution. Modern civic action requires the citizen to fulfill the responsibility, in that he expects and demands the state and the professional bureaucracy to take responsibility and does his best to ensure that the state's revenues are channeled in a considered and balanced way to meet all needs.
We at the "Rabbis for Human Rights" deal especially with Israel's welfare policy and its responsibility to living with dignity for every citizen.
The people living in poverty have known throughout the years how inadequate the state is in dealing with their problems. Our organizational voice is clear: "justice and not charity" -- not soup kitchens and food packages for the needy will solve rummaging through garbage cans, but strengthening the government's food security mechanism: a mechanism that sees all citizens, listens to the direct voices of activists living in poverty, and knows how and whom to help and with what way.
For this reason, the commandment of the half shekel and its biblical incarnation is for us a symbol of the need for a proper regime and active civil involvement in a sovereign state.
We are not the generation of the desert - we left the Sinai desert and arrived in an inhabited land. We are not Jews living in diaspora communities, but Jews who maintain an independent state. Our role model is the mechanism of King Jehoash and not the atonement of the desert generation. May parashat "Shekalim" and its haftara be a source of inspiration for correcting and establishing a proper Jewish economic regime.
Translation: Rabbi Sigal Asher
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Rabbi Kobi Weiss is a member of the organization's staff in the social justice and education departments, leads the weekly organizational beit midrash.
This Shabbat is "Shekalim" Shabbat. When the Temple existed, in the month of Adar, half-shekel was collected for the overall maintenance of the Temple during the new year beginning in Nisan. On the Shabbat before the month of Adar, the announcement of the collection was made, and in memory of this the Sages decreed the reading of the mitzvah of half-shekel every year on this Shabbat.
We read: "The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less, than the half shekel, when they give the offering of the LORD, to make atonement for your souls. And thou shalt take the atonement money from the children of Israel, and shalt appoint it for the service of the tent of meeting, that it may be a memorial for the children of Israel before the LORD, to make atonement for your souls" (Exodus 30:15-16) - the contribution is for atonement and remembrance, but the purpose of the half shekels is "for the srvice of the Tent of Meeting", that is, for the maintenance of the tabernacle.
In the special haftara of the parasha there appears an interesting event related to the collection of the half shekel: "And Jehoash said to the priests: All the money of the hallowed things that is brought into the house of the LORD, in current money, the money of the persons for whom each man is rated, all the money that cometh into any man's heart to bring into the house of the LORD, let the priests take it to them, every man from him that bestoweth it upon him; and they shall repair the breaches of the house, wheresoever any breach shall be found" (2 Kings 12:5-6).
King Jehoash demands that the half shekel funds be directed to strengthening the temple structure based on the existing collection mechanism: the priests collect every man from him that bestoweth it upon him into their private pockets and decide what the money will be used for and how much to direct to what benefit, Jehoash demands that the money be directed to strengthening the temple.
"But it was so, that in the three and twentieth year of king Jehoash the priests had not repaired the breaches of the house. Then king Jehoash called for Jehoiada the priest, and for the other priests, and said unto them: 'Why repair ye not the breaches of the house? now therefore take no longer money from them that bestow it upon you, but deliver it for the breaches of the house. And the priests consented that they should take no longer money from the people, neither repair the breaches of the house" (ibid., 7-9)
The days pass, and the king discovers that the structure of the temple has not yet been strengthened, he realizes that the required money does not reach its destination, and in response - cancels the existing collection mechanism!
"And Jehoiada the priest took a chest, and bored a hole in the lid of it, and set it beside the altar, on the right side as one cometh into the house of the LORD; and the priests that kept the threshold put therein all the money that was brought into the house of the LORD. And it was so, when they saw that there was much money in the chest, that the king's scribe and the high priest came up, and they put up in bags and counted the money that was found in the house of the LORD" (ibid., 10-11)
The King creates a new mechanism, the main cash register: the collection becomes general and direct - every visitor gives directly to the "safe". The result is that not only is enough money collected, but there is a surplus in the public purse, which is all directed to the strengthening of the temple: "And they paid it out to the carpenters and the builders […] and to the masons and the hewers of stone, and for buying timber and hewn stone to repair the breaches of the house of the LORD, and for all that was laid out for the house to repair it" (ibid., 12-13)
The haftara allows us to follow and compare the mitzvot of the half shekel from the days of Moses to King Jehoash. We learn that a lack of proper management meant that there was no attention paid to the need for the inspection of maintenance of the building itself and the loopholes created in it.
The traditional collection process was "every man from him that bestoweth it upon him". The priests were part of the people, and by virtue of their communal role as the local Halacha teachers, they collected the money spontaneously. However, personal conduct caused the money to be transferred to different destinations, each priest made a personal decision as to what to do with the money, and each priest was apparently sure that the purpose for which he transferred the money was the right one - but the bottom line is that the temple remained breached.
The king, who notices that he has been in office for twenty-three years, and the temple has not yet been strengthened, does a radical political act - he cancels the existing mechanism, bypasses it and creates a main collection mechanism above the heads of the priests. The "king" is not a religious but a professional authority. The king is subject to and bound by the mitzvot of the Torah, but a large part of his role is managing the petty affairs of the kingdom. In the name of proper administration, he weakens the status of the priests, and takes state and broad responsibility for the needs of the temple.
The conclusion of the haftara teaches us that despite the gracefulness and even the religious and emotional enthusiasm present in donating the half shekel, one that is linked to atonement and remembrance before God - when there is a large state and multiple expenses, there is a need for a professional "superfactor" who sees all the needs and makes sure that they are all met. Donations of funds at the community level, given ad hoc for social needs, have all the grace and civic responsibility, but do not necessarily lead to a comprehensive professional solution. Those who are in the field see only what their eyes see, and challenges and problems that do not receive exposure in the media or in WhatsApp groups - do not receive a response. Each area must have a "king", who sees the overall picture, and makes sure that the blanket is not pulled to one side at the expense of another side - so that in the end the "temple" is not left breached.
The events of the last few months have exposed a large part of the government offices in their nakedness.
Civil society rallied and got under the stretcher, this is a holy craft that shows the beautiful face of Israeli society - but as with the priests, the holy people, this is not the right solution. Modern civic action requires the citizen to fulfill the responsibility, in that he expects and demands the state and the professional bureaucracy to take responsibility and does his best to ensure that the state's revenues are channeled in a considered and balanced way to meet all needs.
We at the "Rabbis for Human Rights" deal especially with Israel's welfare policy and its responsibility to living with dignity for every citizen.
The people living in poverty have known throughout the years how inadequate the state is in dealing with their problems. Our organizational voice is clear: "justice and not charity" -- not soup kitchens and food packages for the needy will solve rummaging through garbage cans, but strengthening the government's food security mechanism: a mechanism that sees all citizens, listens to the direct voices of activists living in poverty, and knows how and whom to help and with what way.
For this reason, the commandment of the half shekel and its biblical incarnation is for us a symbol of the need for a proper regime and active civil involvement in a sovereign state.
We are not the generation of the desert - we left the Sinai desert and arrived in an inhabited land. We are not Jews living in diaspora communities, but Jews who maintain an independent state. Our role model is the mechanism of King Jehoash and not the atonement of the desert generation. May parashat "Shekalim" and its haftara be a source of inspiration for correcting and establishing a proper Jewish economic regime.
Translation: Rabbi Sigal Asher
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rabbi Kobi Weiss is a member of the organization's staff in the social justice and education departments, leads the weekly organizational beit midrash.